How to fly helicopters

So, helicopters are your thing and you want to learn how to control these beasts? We’re here to help you! Keep in mind, though:helicopters are not easy to control. The best advice we can give you is: practice, practice, practice.

In these articles, you will understand how helicopters work, the physics and aerodynamics behind them and how to perform a variety of maneuvers such as hovering, taking-off, cruising, landing and how to perform emergency procedures.

Meanwhile, enjoy our articles and feel free tocontact usif you find any issues, mistakes or simply want to help us improve this resource for the community.

Let’s learn how to fly helicopters.

These articles were made having recreational flight simulation in mind. Under no circumstances, it should be used for real flying or for real flight training.

Basics

Helicopters are quite different from the fixed-wings counterparts and, although there are varied designs and shapes, most helicopters revolve around a classic design that can be seen in popular helicopters such as the Bell 206 or the AS-350.

Helicopter controls, although somewhat similar in shape, are quite different from their fixed-wing counterparts. If you’re like most simmers and come from a fixed-wing background, get ready: things are about to become fun (and perhaps a bit weird).

Communication

Flying in your sim is fun and it gives you this warm feeling of accomplishment. You want to go the extra mile, though and start adding communication into your flights – be it with ATC or in a non-towered field. And here’s how it can get daunting.

Recommended reading

Helicopters are wild beasts. They are tough to control, even with the best joystick in the market. Unless you purchased a cyclic unit, you are probably using a regular joystick with a centering mechanism -- usually a spring. For a while I have struggled with the joystick I had in order to better control helicopters. Not anymore. So, what can you do to make your joystick more helicopter-friendly?

One of the first questions we usually hear from those that wish to enter the helicopter flight simulation hobby is pretty standard: what is the best helicopter simulator? Given all the market has to offer, this is quite a hard question to answer.

Are you a helicopter fan? Or perhaps one of those curious minds that always wanted to learn more about helicopters? Or you're just looking for the next challenge? Believe me: helicopters offer you a lot of those. Here are the 5 things you need to start flying helicopters.

Ground effect is something that everyone seems to be aware of, but not many completely understand. And there can be a lot of confusion and misconceptions as to what it actually is and how it effects helicopters.

All available resources are great when it comes to learn something. And it's even more important when it's about learning stuff as hard as flying helicopters (even in a sim). Interested about the helicopter cyclic stick behaviour? Check this video out!